Strawhat Tales, Myths and Sagas
by Fieryfly
Summary: These are a collection of Fairy Tales, Myths and Sagas that have been converted into a Strawhat version.
1. Cinderella

**A/N: **Hello everybody. This once came into my mind when I was searching for Fairy Tales and I decided to make Strawhat versions from them. Most of them will probably have a ZoLu pairing because I just love that pairing. Zoro and Luffy are almost made for eachother. Of course there will be stories without a paring. Little Red Riding Hood just has to have Sanji in it! Oh and remember this are fairytales so there are no very hard subjects. Well enjoy the first story and please review!

* * *

**Titel: **Cinderella  
**Universe: **AU, somewhere in Japan a long time ago  
**Pairing: **ZoLu  
**Word Count: **5.417  
**Warning: **OOC-ness, al lot I think, but yeah fairy tales hea  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own One Piece of course, neither do I own Cinderella.

* * *

'Make way! Make way! Make way for the prince!'

Obedient the people on the street stopped with whatever they had been doing and lined up when the voice echoed over the road. Yet it was far from quiet.

'Roronoa-sama has returned.' Mumbled the crowd.

'I heard that the King searches a bride for him, but he has turned every one of them down.'

'He doesn't look like the type for marriage.'

'He is scary.'

'Shht he is coming this way. Bow your head.'

The crowd fell silent when a tall man with short green hair passed by. His muscular body and the three katana's on his hip gave him a strong look. A man to who you wanted to look up. Yet nobody wanted this for his face was as most people defined 'the face of a daemon': His brows always knitted together in a deep frown, his dark eyes in an always penetrating stare. He was, to say it boldly, scary. Parents let their children lower their heads if they wanted it or not. Husbands held their women close. People were afraid of this man even though he was Roronoa Zoro, son of Dracule Mihawk: the king.

Silently the prince moved further down the street, his eyes held on the road in front of him. Never dwindled his eyes off towards the crowd, his people, never moved they away from their destination.

'GET HIM!'

Zoro's eyes narrowed when he saw a boy coming from the direction he was heading to. His ebony brown hair fluttered around his head and against the strawhat that dangled on his back, his red kimono was dirty and his sandals looked worn out. The boy was panting heavenly, but there was a grin on his face which Zoro found the broadest grin he had ever seen in his life.

'What is that idiot doing?' He heard the crowd mumble.

'Not him again…'

'That baka!'

'Who is chasing him this time?'

'He will get us all in trouble with his actions.'

Clearly this kid was not so loved in this village. This made Zoro look to the kid again. He knew he wasn't loved by his people and in fact he didn't give a damn thing about it. Prince Roronoa Zoro didn't need friends. He could survive on his own. Why his father wanted him to marry he didn't know.

'Hahahaha.' The kid laughed loud while he ran zigzag over the road. Behind him two figures had appeared that seemed to be chasing the boy. Suddenly the boy seemed to see the prince as his eyes lit up and he started to run straight for him. The crowd breathed in. Zoro just frowned. With a swift move the boy was behind him where he halted and turned around, placing his hands on Zoro's back. He peeked around the man.

'Hahaha.' He stuck out his tongue to the two boys that had halted a few meter away from Zoro and stared to him with wide open eyes. Zoro just stared back, feeling the soft touch of the boy on his back. _What the hell…?_

'Mohji that is… that is…' One of the boys stuttered.

'Roronoa Zoro.' The other shook in fear. 'Hurry Cabaji, bow or he will kill us.' Quickly the two boys got on their knees and lowered their heads to the ground.

'Hey you!'

'Nani?' The boy with the strawhat turned around only to get two spears pointed at him. He stumbled back, or tried to actually, but Zoro was in the way. 'Aah!'

'Get away from Roronoa-sama. Now!'

For a moment the boy only looked scared to the spears and then he was gone, but not because he walked away. An orange haired girl had suddenly appeared next to him and had grabbed the boy on his arm. Holding him firmly she dragged him in front of Zoro and pushed him hard on his head so that he was forced to sink down on his knees with his nose in the ground. Slowly the crowd breathed out again.

'Nami!' The boy whined. 'What are you doing?'

'Luffy you baka!' The girl scolded him. 'Don't you know who that is?' She let out a frustrated sigh.

'No. Nami you are hurting me!'

'Shut up!' Nami raised her voice. 'That. Is. Roronoa. Zoro. The. Prince.' With every word she smashed the head of the boy harder in the sand and after that she finally let him go.

The boy, now with a face that was covered in dirt, immediately raised his head again and looked up to the man that towered above him. His eyes were full of curiosity. Then he smiled again.

'You have cool hair.'

'Luffy!'

Zoro stared to the boy in disbelieve, but he couldn't help but smirk a little at the big eyes the boy was giving him. Of all the things he could have said he said that he liked Zoro's hair? That was just weird.

Nami raised her hand again to slam the boy for his impoliteness.

'Matte.'

Immediately her hand fell down again when the prince called out to her. Zoro looked down on the boy in the dirt whose name was apparently Luffy, who looked very relieved by this delay of punishment.

'Why were they chasing you?' The prince nudged with his head towards the two boys down the road who were still kneeling.

Luffy shrugged casually before grinning widely. 'I ate the meat. 'He stated simply. 'And then they got angry and said that if they caught me they were going to kill me for doing it again.' He looked confused like he had no idea why someone would do such a thing. Zoro couldn't help but smirk a little wider. This kid was so strange.

'Roronoa-sama.' A servant in a green kimono came standing next to him, keeping his head low.

'What?' Zoro said annoyed already.

'Sir, we should really keep going. Mihawk-sama won't be pleased if we were to delay.' The man bowed even more.

Zoro sighed. 'You're probably right Yosaku.' He turned his attention back to Luffy who was looking around the street calmly while sitting on the ground. It seems that he had already forgotten where he was. 'You're okay?'

The boy looked up and nodded with a smile. 'Yeah, you saved me. Thanks.'

'No problem.' With that he started moving again together with his two servants. He shot a last glance back to the boy and their eyes met. The boy smiled, waved to him and opened his mouth to speak, but the words could never leave he lips for he was hit on his head by the girl which made him turn his attention away from the prince. Zoro shook his head again in disbelieve by such a simple minded person, smirked to himself and walked on passed the endless line of people.

* * *

'Luffy you baka!' Nami scolded him again when the two walked through one of the little streets of the city. 'You were so lucky that Roronoa-sama was in a good mood otherwise you were a death person by now.'

'I like him.'Luffy stated all of the sudden.

Nami blinked. 'Who?'

'Zoro.'

'What? You must be crazy, okay you probably are crazy, but that is beside the point. That man is the scariest person I have ever met in my entire life.'

'Who is scary?' Luffy looked questioning to her.

'Roronoa-sama.' Nami rolled her eyes.

'I think he is cool.'

The girl sighed and let the subject drop. There was no convincing Luffy if he had set himself on something. 'Fine. So you are going to the party then I assume?'

'What party?'

Nami face palmed. She could have foreseen this. 'Luffy.' She sighed. 'Don't you remember why the prince is coming here in the first place?'

'No, why?' The boy said while hopping over a hole in the road.

'The king is throwing a party, a big one and everyone is invited, to look for a bride of his son… Meaning Roronoa-sama.' She added when she saw Luffy's questioning look.

'There is a party for him?' Luffy finally seemed to awake.

'Yes, that's what I'm saying. A costume party so that nobody knows exactly who is who.'

'Oeeh! I have to go and see Usopp. I can't believe he didn't tell me this! Thanks Nami!' With that the boy ran off, the straw hat fluttering behind him.

Nami sighed to herself when she saw the baka run off. 'He is so stupid.' She mumbled to herself, but she smiled. Even though Luffy was stupid he was one of her best friends. He looked to things from a whole different way, a way she sometimes didn't even imagined there was. And it seemed that he had found such a thing in the prince.

* * *

'Oi jiisan!'Luffy literally kicked the door of the kitchen open and stormed inside giving the two small girls who were cooking a hell of a scare. Luffy halted before the two and grinned apologizing.  
'Ah wari.'

The little girl with brown hair gave him a look but then turned back to her rice. Her blue kimono was covered with rice and other things they had used for their cooking.

Luffy peeked over her shoulder while trying to snatch something. 'Oe Onigiri!'

The little girl smashed his hand away. 'No steeling Oni-chan. They are not finished yet. Sanji told Apis and me how to make them. ' She said proudly as she finished another rice ball and handed it to her sister who placed them neatly in a box. Apis had, in contradiction to her sister, blond hair and wore a yellow kimono.

'You're just as mean as Nami Rika.' Luffy pouted to his little stepsister. Sighing he stood back up and suddenly remembered why he was in such a hurry. Quickly he left the girls to their work and moved further in the house.

'Jiisan?' Luffy entered the main room of the house before being slammed in the face by a big man with a grey moustache. His white kimono read the words seki (justice) in red on the back

'Luffy!' The man screamed. 'How dare you break the door again!'

'Itte!' Luffy screamed while holding his bleeding nose.

'Do that again and I will make sure you will feel my fist of love in all his glory and might.' The old man hummed to him while showing off his fist.

'Hai.' Luffy said a bit unclear due the fact that he still held his nose.

'Now what is it?'

Immediately Luffy forgot his pain and his eyes started to glimmer. 'Ne ne, can I go to the party tomorrow evening? Ne, can I?'

'No.'

Luffy's excitement died down as he stared in disbelieve to the man who walked over towards the table and sat down while taking up his tea.

'Heh?'

'No.'

'Hea? Why not?'

'Because tomorrow is my poker night with the guys of work and someone has to watch Apis and Rika.'

'But… Can't you ask Coby or Helemeppo to do that?'

'No.' The answer was final yet Luffy continued of course not realizing that he was getting himself in deep trouble if he continued this way.

'Can't you go another day? I really really want to go!'

'No.'

'But –'

'No.' His grandfather eyed him dangerously.

'But jiisan!'

WHAM! In a flash the old man had risen to his feet and had smacked the devastated boy on his head. 'No is no! Now get out!' And with that he threw the boy outside before returning to his tea. He took a sip and praised himself that it was still hot.

* * *

Half an hour later a glum Luffy opened the door of a small shop. The blue sign on the door read: 'Water 7' in white letters and the display window was decorated with all kinds of costumes and masks. The shop was empty except for two figures at the counter. A woman with black hair, who was the owner of the shop, was conversing with a boy with a dark yellow plaid bandanna that covered the most of his black curly hair. He had the longest nose there had ever been, that Luffy was sure of. The boy held up a yellow mask that had blue stripes over it and greatly resembled the sun. When the bell of the door chimed through the shop both of them looked up.

'Yoh Luffy check this out!' The boy held up the mask and placed it in front of his face. 'Don't you think I look cool with this?' His voice lowered as he was someone else. 'I'm Sogeking nice to meet you.'

'What is wrong Luffy?' The woman suddenly spoke up while the other was still showing off his mask. 'Don't you need a costume for the party tomorrow? ' Her voice was soft and caring.

Luffy shook his head slightly. 'I can't go Robin. 'He whined. The other lowered his mask and started in disbelieve to the whining boy.

'WHAT?' He screamed. 'But you have to go Luffy. This is _the_ event of the century! You can't miss this!'

'I know Usopp…' Luffy said almost in tears. 'But jiisan says I have to watch Rika and Apis since he is going out otherwise I will get a taste of his fist of love in all his glory and might.' He said quoting his grandfather.

'Garp-san has always been kind of a dramatic person hasn't he?' Robin said with a small smile.

Luffy plumped down on one of the chairs in the room, curled himself up and stared to the ground. 'I really want to go.' He mumbled sad while hugging his legs.

'You want to see the prince again, don't you?' Robin said giving him warm smile. She knew about the incident of this morning even though she hadn't witnessed it. Nami had told her about the meeting between the prince and the boy before her. She had spoken about how the prince had smiled to Luffy and how he had helped him. It was unusual for the prince to show interest in his people and even more unusual for him to smile.

Luffy looked up and then nodded.

'What? You met the prince?' Usopp asked flabbergasted.

Again there was a nod and a smile spread again over Luffy's face. 'Yeah!' He said enthusiastic. 'He is really cool. He had green hair! And he saved me from Mohji and Cabaji.'

'The two from Buggy's group?' Usopp looked frightened. 'What had you done this time?'

'Ate their meat. What?' He asked seeing Robins smile and heard Usopps sigh. 'I was hungry.' He defended himself. 'But...' He face died down again. 'I won't see him again. Jiisan never lets me go.' He hugged his legs tighter.

Usopp stared to the boy and then to the mask that he was still holding in his hand. Luffy, mask, Luffy, mask, Luffy, mask, Luffy.

'How late will Garp-san be back?' He suddenly questioned this friend.

'Huh? Eh mostly around 12 o'clock.' The surprised boy answered.

'Soka… Well than you need to watch the time.'

'Heh?'

'You have to make sure you come back before 12 o'clock.' Usopp said again not looking to Luffy. He stared to his mask, but smiled to himself.

Robin silently turned around and walked towards the back of the store. She smiled by herself. Usopp was a good friend.

'You mean….' Luffy stuttered. Usopp only nodded.

'Usopp you are the best nakama ever!' The boy shouted while he jumped up and crashed into the other in something that was supposed to be a hug, but which looked rather like he was trying to suffocate the other.

'Ugh Luffy, you are killing me!' The boy with the olivine skin gasped while trying to get Luffy's hands of him. 'Let go of me!'

'Luffy-san.' Robin's voice saved Usopp from dying. 'I guess you need a costume then. What kind of costume did you had in mind?'

Immediately Luffy's attention was turned towards the woman who had come back from the other side of the store with a coat hanger. 'Pirate!' He bounced over to the counter. 'I wanna be a pirate!'

'So was my guess too.' The woman said slightly chuckling as she zipped open the cover that hid the clothes on the hanger from view.

* * *

The next night a nervous but excited Luffy found himself back at the entrance of the Royal Palace that was located on the top of a hill that lay near the village. King Mihawk hadn't been greedy with money, but yet he hadn't wasted it either. The place was surrounded by a beautiful garden which was again surrounded by a wall. The palace itself was the biggest house Luffy had ever seen with red walls, four floors and black roof on top. The palace as well as the garden was decorated with lanterns and garlands that made it look like the place was glowing in the twilight.

'Sugei…' The boy mumbled to himself. He wished that Usopp was here, but knew the other was taking care of his stepsister now. 'Yosh! I better make sure I party for two then.' The boy said to himself as he stepped through the red gate and joined the party, remembering with a grin that he could eat for two now.

Long he enjoyed himself with eating. The food was awesome. Luffy figured that it must have been made by Sanji for who else could cook such delicious things as the famous cook. He owned his own restaurant Baratie down in the village which he had inherited from his father, but often also took jobs from the Palace.

After stuffing himself enough he leaned back with a swollen belly. He sighed content and looked around through the room. In the middle a dance floor had formed. Again the young boy wished that his friend was there to dance with him. With whom should he now do crazy dances and pranks?

'A pirate hea…' He suddenly heard a familiar voice behind him. Quickly he turned around and stared to a man in a black kimono. His green hair was coloring well with the dark of his clothes and the green harimaki that was around his waist and his dark eyes looked down on Luffy. The only thing he lacked was his swords.

The boy smiled broadly when he saw his new found friend. 'Yo Zoro!' Suddenly he frowned and let his eyes dwell over the prince's outfit again. 'Where is your costume?'

'This is it.' The man gestured towards his attire.

'But… But you're just you…' Luffy said confused. 'Aren't you supposed to dress up for this?'

'I am. I never wear this stuff so I'm dressed up as a prince and even though I am a prince it still makes me wear something else.' Zoro blinked. Where did that come from? Normally he would just have said 'I am' and leave it there, but then again a normal person wouldn't even ask that question to him. Zoro couldn't help but smirk a little when he saw the boy pondering over his saying.

'So… you are a mystery person then, aren't you?' Luffy asked.

'Ehm… yeah guess so.'

'Sugei!'

Zoro raised a brow, but didn't make further comments. Instead he switched to another subject. 'So why a pirate?'

This made the eyes of the boy lit up and he smiled his typical smile. 'Because pirates are cool and I think pirates are the ones with the most freedom in the world. Especially the Pirate King.'

'Pirate King?'

'Yeah, that is who I am. Don't you see that?' Luffy held up his long red cloak that covered a red sleeveless shirt and some blue pants that were cut off by the knees. Yet it was not a black pirate hat that covered the boys ebony hair, but the yellow strawhat with the red bandana.

'I see.' There was a silence. 'So do you like the party?'

Luffy nodded excited. 'I just wished that Usopp was here to dance –'His eyes lit up as he jolted up from his chair. 'Zoro can dance with me!' He shouted happy as he dragged the man along with him to the dance floor.

'Wha– Let go of me.'

'Come on! It will be fun.' The boy chirped.

'I don't dance.'

'Do.'

'Do not.'

'Do so.'

'Do not.'

'Do so.' And with that Luffy pulled the man on the dance floor. Immediately space was created for the two and a few people eyed the prince, which he chooses to ignore.

'Come on Zoro dance!' Luffy swirled around him like crazy.

'You are spinning to damn fast…' The man muttered irritated, but ten minutes later the enthusiasm of the boy had actually got him dancing.

Zoro grunted as the boy stepped on his foot for the third time. 'Oi, stop stepping on my foot.' He hissed.

'Not my fault, you are making the wrong moves.' Luffy responded as he followed the rest of the couples and took a step away from Zoro just as the other pairs and returned again to his former position.

'I make the wrong moves?'A vein popped. 'No you do. You are supposed to move like this. 'He made a quick move and planted his foot on Luffy's.

'Itte!' The boy winced, but then a playful smirk came over his face as he dodged Zoro's incoming foot and stepped on it again with his.

Soon the two were entangled in a battle of who could step on each other's foot faster. First it was innocent and none of the other dance pairs took notice of this until Luffy, who had just been pinned down again, made a sway with his arms so that his fist landed directly in Zoro's face.

'Why you!' Zoro spat as he tried to hit the boy back. Now arms joined the dance, as it became to them. A dance to prove which one of them was better. Better at dodging, better at aiming, better in moving fast. For the other guests though it seemed like they were fighting.

Abruptly everybody stopped dancing and shoved away from the couple that only seemed to consist of arms and legs. Suddenly the king was there and with one grip he pulled the two boys apart. This made the two stumble back and fall down on the ground. Both panting heavenly.

The king looked down on them with his hard yellow eyes that had earned him the name 'Hawkeyes' when he was younger. The eyes glided to the boy in the pirate clothes, the eyes of the boy were closed and he had a broad smile on his face as he lay there grasping for breath. The strawhat that had been on the boy's head had been kicked off during the fight and lay across the floor.

The merciless eyes moved to Zoro who was also panting. Mihawk opened his mouth to scroll him, to let him know where his place was, to let him hear that this wasn't the way a prince behaved, but he was caught off guard (just a little) when he saw the grin on his sons face. He blinked slowly, looked back to the boy that had made his son smile.

'What are you doing?' His voice was ice cold.

'Dancing.' The smirking reply came. Daring Zoro looked up to his father from his lower position on the ground.

'Dancing.' The king repeated letting no emotion slip into his tone. 'I am disappointed in you Zoro. It is only just twelve o'clock and – '

Luffy's eyes snapped open as he stared in horror to the king. It was already twelve o'clock? _Shit Usopp_. Quickly he jumped up, shot a last apologizing glance to the prince on the ground and sprinted away, leaving a slightly took off guard king and his son behind. Oh was so going to get it now.

* * *

'Boshiiiiiii.' Luffy whined. His head rested on the table and his eyes were watery. 'Booshiiiii!'

'Luffy shut up or I'll make you.' The grumpy reply came from the living room. 'It is your own fault that you left your hat behind. You should have considered that when you went to that party without my permission.'

'Booooossshhiiiiiiiiiii.' The whine continued. Tears streamed over Luffy's face.

Well it had been his own mistake. In the hurry to get home in time he had forgotten that his hat wasn't on his head anymore. Garp had been furious when the boy had come home (Usopp had been long gone by that time) and had grounded him for the rest of the year or something like that. He couldn't go outside so he couldn't find boshi nor could his friends come inside and give boshi to him.

Hanging over the table the boy stared lifeless to the ground. His hat was the most important possession he had and now he had lost it.

There was knocking on the door, but Luffy didn't look up. His friends wouldn't drop by again now that they knew that he had been grounded for life. It would only make his live harder. So it must be someone who wanted to speak his grandfather. Luffy sighed again, but couldn't help himself to twitch his ears to the conversation at the door. Who was it?

'Luffy!' Garp suddenly shouted to him. 'Get your ass over here!'

Immediately Luffy was up. It was just not in his nature to lay around longer than five minutes doing nothing and he was happy with the distraction, whatever the distraction ought to be. Happy he bounced over to the other room and then to the hall were Garp was standing. He looked rather caught off guard for some reason and gestured towards the door.

'There is someone for you here.' He grunted as he walked off.

Questioning Luffy watched him go. Did this mean he wasn't grounded anymore? Grinning he ran to the door and peeked outside, staring in the face of a curtain green haired man.

'Zoro!' Luffy shouted excited.

The man gave a small grin. 'Hey.'

'What are you doing here?' A smile had once again found his way back to Luffy's face.

'You forgot something at the party.' Zoro stated as he raised his hand, revealing the strawhat with the red bandana.

'BOSHI!' Luffy shouted and in an instance the hat was snatched out of Zoro's outstretched hand and had found his way back to the boy's head. Sobbing slightly from happiness Luffy looked grateful up to the swordsman, who looked rather dumbfounded.

'Thank you Zoro!' And before the man knew it Luffy wrapped his arms around him and hugged him.

'Eh…' A blush crept over Zoro's face. 'No problem.' He muttered. 'Why is this hat so special anyway?'

The boy let go of him. 'This hat is my personal treasure.' He said rather serious. 'Shanks gave it to me as a lucky charm.' He smiled at the memory. 'Shanks is my uncle.' He explained when he saw Zoro's questioning look. 'He is off with Ace, my brother, to the sea. Since I was too little back then they dropped my off at jiisan's place.'

'Where are your …' Zoro's trailed off, hoping he hadn't touch a painful subject.

'They are death.'

Seems he did. 'I'm sorry.'

Luffy looked confused to the man in front of him. 'For what? It was not your fault.'

Zoro scratched the back of his head. This kid was still weird, but he had to admit he liked him. Luffy had been the first one since _her_ with whom he really had fun, with whom he had laughed and well sort of danced. Luffy had been the first one in a while who didn't seem to be scared of him and didn't mind being around him. And frankly, he didn't like admitting this, but it was nice. It was nice that someone cared for him again or at least liked to be around him. Since he had been solemnly concentrating on his training he hadn't really missed it, but now that someone was actually being nice on him he realized he had missed it. Well a little bit then.

'… And so Shanks gave me his hat with the promise that he would once come to get it back and that I had to keep it save for him.' Luffy finished his story. Zoro snapped back to reality. Unintentionally he moved his hand to the katana with the white sheet. Apparently Luffy's hat held the same value to him as this sword held to Zoro.

'Zoro? Oi Zoro…?'

'Eh, what?' He shook his head to get his thoughts clear again. Why did Luffy keep him reminding of Kuina of all people?

'Haha, you are funny.' The boy played with the edge of his hat while grinning like a maniac.

'Eh Luffy?'

'Hmm?'

'Would you…' Zoro bit his lip. This wasn't like him at all. Since when was he such a baby? 'Would you like to drop by at the palace some time?' He blurted, cursing to himself. He didn't want to say that, but he just couldn't get himself to say _it._

Luffy's eyes lit up, but then suddenly died down. 'I can't. I'm grounded.' He mumbled with his face to the ground.

Zoro chuckled. 'I'm sure I can arrange something with your grandfather. Being a prince does have its pros you know.'

This time Luffy's whole face lit up. 'Really? Thanks Zoro, you are the best friend ever!' Suddenly he hugged the man again, pressing his head against his chest. Zoro was so warm.

For a moment Zoro hesitated, but then he wrapped his arms around the boy and returned the hug while closing his eyes.

They stood there for a while just enjoying each other's presence. Zoro praised the world that Luffy lived so far back in the city so that hardly anybody came here otherwise his guards would have found him a long time ago.

'I like you Zoro.' The boy suddenly muttered to his chest.

Zoro blinked. 'I like you too Luffy.' He replied softly.

The boy lifted his head up and looked with his large brown eyes in Zoro's black ones. 'Really?'

The swordsman nodded. 'Really.' Slowly he moved his hand to Luffy's chin and titled it up a little more before leaning in. He could feel Luffy's breath on his lips before they pressed together in a soft but meaningful kiss.

'WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH MY GRANDSON?'

Zoro jerked away from Luffy and was just in time to dodge one of Garp's Fists of Love.

'Aah jiisan.' Luffy stuttered.

'GET INSIDE LUFFY!'

Luffy blinked, thought about it and then shook his head. 'No.' He said firmly.

'What? Are you disobeying your grandfather boy?' Garp's tone was dangerously cold.

'I like Zoro and I won't allow you to hurt my nakama.'

Zoro gave a slight smirk. It seemed that Luffy wasn't as stupid as he had thought.

'Do you now?' Garp sneered. 'Well get out then!' He said while readying his fist for another salvo of his famous punches.

Luffy didn't hesitate, but grabbed Zoro's arm and ran off, dragging the young prince along with him.

'I'll be off then!' He screamed to his grandfather.

'Oi Luffy, what is your whole name?' Zoro asked while they turned around a corner.

Luffy looked questioning to him. 'Monkey D. Luffy. Why?'

'Monkey D. Luffy.' Zoro said to himself. He smirked. And people said his name was weird. He turned to the boy while they sprinted over the road. 'Monkey D. Luffy would you do me the honor of marrying me?'

'Hai!' Luffy turned his head to Zoro with a broad smile on his face.

Zoro stared to him. 'You will?'

'Ha–' WHAM! With a smack Luffy ran into a wooden pole and was thrown back on his back. 'Itte!'

'Oi, you're okay?' The prince asked slightly worried.

'Fine.' Luffy smiled back to him. Zoro raised his brow. Well he guessed that was just Luffy. 'Come on. I know a place where we can hide from jiisan and,' his eyes started to glimmer, 'can have some awesome food!' Within a second the boy was back on his feet, placed the strawhat neatly on his head and ran off, again dragging the prince along with him.

Zoro shook his head in disbelieve, but he smiled. One thing was for sure: a live with Luffy was never going to be boring.

* * *

**And they lived happily ever after! **

**Thanks for reading. Did you like it? Hate it? **

**Don't forget to review, you can always request a Fairy Tale or an other common story and I'll gladly try to make a strawhat version from it. Hmm next time I think I'm going to aim for Rapunzel...**


	2. There are no pirates on the sea sea sea

**A/N: **I should really stop predicting what I'm going to do. It doesn't work anyway.I'm sorry takara94 this story is not going to be Swan Princess. I absolutely adored the idea and I'm going to keep it in my mind. It isn't Rapunzel either nor Beaty and the Beast. In fact I don't think that anyone would recongize this story unless you are a bit Astrid Lindgen fan for this story is taken from one of her fairy tales. I stumbled over it one time these days and just got amazing inspiration.

* * *

**Titel: **There are pirates on the sea-sea-sea  
**Original titel: **Ingen rövare finns i shogen by Astrid Lindgen (for the Dutch people: Er zit een rover in het bos-bos-bos)  
**Universe: **In de OP universe as well in modern Japan (yes complicated I know just read the story and you will understand :P)  
**Pairing: **Not really a pairing but still some ZoLu nakamaship  
**Word Count: **3.240  
**Warning: **OOC-ness, but much less then in Cinderella  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own One Piece of course, neither do I own the original story for it was from Astrid Lindgen .

* * *

Light flooded the dark and dusty attic when a window was opened. A window that was dusty itself which indicated that it hadn't been opened in a long time. A soft breeze entered the musty room and whirled up some dust and some old papers that lay in one of the many open boxes. The hand that had opened the window belonged to a curtain green haired man who looked sighing to the mess in front of him.

And it was a mess. Like all old attics it had been used long ago, but was now nothing more than a heap of things. Closets, an old desk, boxes with pictures and other long forgotten memories, old clothes , toys and a lot more useless stuff that one kept because they held a important value. You didn't want to throw them away, but once you had stored them here you never looked to them again. Until you were moving.

Zoro was moving which meant he had to face the horrors of cleaning up his attic. The house he was about to leave had belonged to his father so not only his mess, but also that from his old man was filling up space in this fusty place. This meant more things to sort out and thus more work.

It was inevitable. Sighing Zoro picked up the first box and sat down on an old sofa. Let's get the party started then.

The box contained old pictures from him when he was young. He rushed through them when one picture suddenly made him stop. His heart stung when he saw himself sparring with a slightly older girl with short dark blue hair. There were pictures of her? He never knew. Pondering he looked to the picture and then put it in his pocket before continuing his task.

Ten boxes, a dusty desk and an excellent lunch made by Sanji, his housemate and personal cook (which was very nice), later Zoro found himself still gazing at an overfull attic. Frustrated he rubbed his eyes and let them dwell through the room. Would this ever end? Not wanting to clean up any more he started to stroll through the room. He spotted several old vases covered in a thick layer of dust that he remembered used to stand above the fireplace at his grandmother's place, lifted an old curtain that hid an old suit on a standard from view and even found a sword. Even though it must had been up there for ages its sheath still was white and the blade hadn't been touched by rust. He kicked it up with his foot and slit it out. The weight was exactly right, the balance perfect. Zoro frowned. It was like this sword was just made for him. He lowered it again, putted it back in its sheath and looked further.

Suddenly his eyes fell on something in the corner of the room and he lowered the blade. The far part of the attic was lower so only boxes could be stored there, but between the boxes was something that caught his eye.

A ship.

He smiled as he walked closer to it and kneeled down to take a closer look. It was covered in dust, as everything here, but still it was a pretty marvelous ship. Carefully not to break anything he picked it up and dusted it off.

It was a pirate ship. A pirate ship complete with canons and a pirate flag. The flag and also the sail showed the image of a skull with a straw hat, which was a bit odd, and the figurehead was shaped as a ram. 'Going Merry' was painted with black paint on the side.

Zoro let his finger move over the figurehead's shape as he remembered how his father had given him this once, telling him that he used to play with it when he was young. For being such an old ship it was still in really good state. He took the deck off to find its 'captain' sitting in the man's dormitory. The small doll had black hair and wore a red shirt and blue pants. A little straw hat lay next to him on the ground.

Luffy was its name Zoro remembered as it came all rushing back to him. Monkey D. Luffy.

Blowing some more dust away from the ship he remembered how he had made up stories about pirates long ago with his father. 'But there are no pirates on the sea anymore.' He whispered to himself.

Suddenly the little doll stood up and looked up to him. He picked up the straw hat and placed back on his ebony hair. Then he laughed.

'What are you saying? Of course there are pirates on the sea. And more than one!' The boy said to him while placing his hands firmly on his hips.

Zoro blinked and stared to the boy, who had, just moments ago, been a stiff doll. This was not real. This couldn't be real. This kind of stuff only happened in fairy tales.

Luffy laughed again. 'You're funny. No pirates, puh.' He huffed. 'There are a lot of pirates out there.' He gestured to the window. 'Come here, then you can see it for yourself.' With a quick move Luffy grabbed Zoro's hand and pulled him along to the window.

Wait… How the hell did he fit in a ship that was made to play with? Zoro was desperately trying to wake himself up, but there wasn't much time to do so (and it didn't work anyway) for the young captain dragged him over to the glass.

'Here, carefully so that Buggy won't spot you otherwise he would probably try to shoot you too.' Luffy grinned.

Slowly and hesitating Zoro peeked through the window. He knew what he would see. Just his attic with all the rubbish and dust, boxes and clothes. Yet strangely when he looked outside there was nothing that at least looked like boxes or clothes or even dust. No, all he saw was a blue sea, waves, a slightly dark sky that told him that it was nearly evening and a ship not too far away from them.

He looked closer and noticed that this ship too bore a pirate flag and on the main deck he caught a glimpse of a man dressed as a clown with a really big red nose. The red nose also came back in the skull that was painted on the flag.

'See.' Luffy said triumphing. 'No pirates, ha!' He laughed.

'Is that Buggy?' Zoro asked.

'Yup.' The boy answered. 'Buggy and his crew. They have been chasing me for days now.'

´Why?'

Luffy grinned. 'Because I have the biggest treasure in the world.' He said as he pulled out a gold piece from under the sofa.

A pirate needed to have a treasure Zoro's father used to say. For what was a pirate without gold, jewels and other valuables? Actually the gold piece was just the cap of a bottle of ale that had been painted gold, but Zoro wasn't about to ruin the boy's imagination. 'One Piece' as his father used to call the treasure when he told Zoro the story about Luffy again. Every pirate wanted it, but Luffy always managed to fight of everyone who dared to touch it. Actually Zoro thought a crew needed more than just a captain to protect such an important treasure, but his father didn't have enough money back when he was young for another doll. Suddenly Zoro wondered if the boy was lonely.

He snapped back into reality when he felt a poke against his head. 'What?' He grunted.

'Ne ne, let's go and eat something!' Luffy jumped away from the window and started to makehis way up to the deck. Zoro followed him and soon the two were sitting at the kitchen table. Zoro found out that Luffy was the fastest eater he had ever seen. How the boy managed to swallow a whole steak within a second was only a guess.

All of the sudden there was a loud bang and the ship swayed dangerously. Quickly Luffy jumped up, stuffed his mouth full with meat before he went and ran outside followed by Zoro.

Buggy had shot his first shot, but had missed completely and had only caused a large wave.

'Mwish!' Luffy called to the other captain with a mouth full of meat. He gulped and grinned. 'You can't hit me!' He shouted. 'And with my new friend you will never beat me!'

'Wait… Friend?' Zoro sputtered.

'He is the best swordsman in the world!' Luffy exclaimed happily, noticing the blade on Zoro's hip which the swordsman himself hadn't noticed yet. It felt reassuring though. Like it belonged there for some reason.

'Shut up and give me your treasure or die you flashy bastard!' Came the shouting reply back from Buggy.

'Let's go!' Luffy ignored the other and punched in the air. 'All hands on deck. Let's move!' He swung himself up in the mast and started to adjust the sails to catch more wind. With the help of Zoro the ship slowly started to gain more speed. The Going Merry was lightly then Buggy's ship and soon the clown pirates fell behind. They turned smaller and smaller until their flashy cannon balls couldn't hit them anymore.

'He that was fun.' The young captain said as he lay down on the deck, panting heavenly.

Zoro definitely wouldn't define being chased as fun, but, hé, he was tired now and not in the mood to argue about it.

A big yawn escaped Luffy's lips and he grinned. 'Yosh let's go to bed. 'He said while he sat up.

Zoro raised his brow. 'Shouldn't there be someone on watch for if that guy returns?'

'Yosh.' Luffy exclaimed just as happy. 'As captain I say that you have to take watch.' He jumped up. 'Night Zoro.' And with that the boy disappeared below deck.

'Night Luffy.' Zoro quietly spoke as he moved up to the crow's nest. Even though this boy was completely nuts Zoro still felt like he should follow him and obey his orders. Luffy just had something around them. It was weird.

He settled himself comfortable down in the crow's nest and looked up to the, now dark, sky. It seemed so real, yet it couldn't be happening now, could it?

A small breeze played with his hair. The stars sparkled above him and the moon was reflected in the calm water of the sea. He sighed and decided not to think about it anymore. It was no use anyway.

His eyes fell shut, but snapped open again as he heard something or someone climbing up towards him. A moment later the obvious straw hat came in view only to be followed by the rest of the boy.

'Ne Zoro…' The boy said looking down to his feet.

'What is it?'

'Can I sleep with you?'

Zoro blinked, but then made a small smile (which was really rare for him). 'Sure.'

Luffy's eyes lit up and his smile returned to his original position. He sat down next to his new friend and snuggled against him while letting his head rest in the crook of Zoro's neck.

'I hid One Piece.' Luffy mumbled sleepy. 'Just in case.'

Zoro stroked the ebony hair and smirked. As he had thought this boy wasn't _that_ stupid. 'Where?' He asked curious with what the boy had come up.

'In a cake.' The soft reply came and Zoro face palmed himself. Where else…?

'And I raised the ladder to the crow's nest so that Buggy won't be able to come here.' And with that the boy fell soundly asleep. Not long after that Zoro followed him to the land of the dreams (which was a bit strange for wasn't he dreaming already?)

But not long after the two had fallen asleep they were woken up by the sound of lots of feet that were skipping over the deck. There was some shuffling and a lot of huffs and puffs. Clearly those men weren't trying to be silent.

Slowly Zoro opened one eye. Luffy had jumped up and stared down.

'Sugei!'

The shout made clear that Zoro had to come and look. When the swordsman moved over next to the captain and looked down he stared right in the face of Captain Buggy who was balancing on top of his forty other crewmates.

'Ha! I found you flashy bastard.' Buggy said triumphing.

Without making a sound Zoro took out his blade, but before he could do anything the ship made a very convenient (for Zoro and Luffy that is, for Buggy it would be inconvenient) sway to the left which made the whole human tower sway and then drop down which caused several pirates to disappear into the sea. Again this was very convenient for the two on top of the crow's nest.

Buggy hadn't given up though and seemed to have glued himself to the wood. He didn't only cling to it like his life was depending on it (which perhaps was also the case), but also slowly started to pull himself up. He laughed as he finally stood before the two.  
'Now tell me where One Piece is and I'll spare your miserable lives.'

'Yada.' Luffy said firmly as Zoro readied his blade again, ready to defend the young captain.

Buggy drew his own blade from his hip and grinned. 'Think you can beat me boy? Think you can beat the great Captain Buggy most feared pirate of the East Blue?'

Zoro didn't reply, but simply hold his ground waiting for the others attack. Then the fight started.

Immediately Zoro noticed how weak he had become. Due all the things back home like school and the whole moving thing he hadn't trained for a long time. Quickly the battle turned to a slaughter from Buggy's side. The captain chased Zoro off the nest and around the deck. Even though he couldn't break through Zoro's defenses Zoro couldn't do anything else then dodge and block the incoming strikes.

They made their third round around the deck when Luffy decided to join the fight and beat up the rest of the crew. Unlucky for him they had prepared for this and suddenly an angry yell made Zoro look up and lose focus for a moment.

Luffy had been caught in a cage and was furiously trying to escape, but the bars held their ground how much Luffy pulled them.

Buggy took this lack of focus to strike and kick the blade out of his opponent's hand. The sword flew over the deck and landed with a _clunk_ on the other side of the ship.

Zoro cursed himself. How could he have been so stupid? Quickly he was surrounded by then other pirates. Escaping was not possible with Luffy there struck in a cage. He would not abandon they boy. Yet also fighting seemed useless against such a force.

Buggy laughed loud. 'Who is laughing now, ne?'

Luffy grinned like there was nothing wrong with being in a cage. 'I am laughing. You are never going to find my treasure anyway.' He stuck out his tongue.

'Shut up you flashy bastard. I, the mighty Buggy, shall find this treasure.' And with that he started to search.

First he looked on the deck then on the upper level and in the crow's nest. He searched in the man's dormitory where he made a fuss of all the beds and looked in the closet, under the table and in all the crates that where standing there. The storage room and the girl's dormitory were inspected as well and completely thrown over. In the end only the kitchen was left.

To tease them Buggy had dragged Zoro and Luffy along with him to every place he had been searching which resulted in an utterly bored Luffy and a very annoyed Zoro. Both aren't very nice to have around.

'Ah I'm bored!' Luffy whined. 'Oi big red nose ossan. Let me out!'

Buggy, who had been peeking in the cupboard, rose to his feet, hit his head against the top of the cupboard, cursed and then looked to Luffy. His face started to get the same color as his famous nose. So angry was he that he couldn't speak, but instead searched for something to throw with. The only thing that was close to Buggy was the cake.

With a furious face Buggy grabbed it and aimed for the boy in the cage. He threw. Luckily for Luffy and stupid from Buggy the cage took the impact with a loud _clinck_ as One Piece collided with the metal.

The cake went through the bars for the most part which the boy behind them didn't mind.

'Haha!' Buggy laughed triumphing as he saw One Piece laying blinking between the remains of the cake that hadn't disappeared in Luffy's mouth.

Without any luck Zoro tried to get closer to Luffy and his treasure, but all other pirates that were left held him back.

Again Buggy laughed as he picked up the gold painted cap. 'Finally.' He moved the cap around in his hand and slowly started to walk back to his ship that lay boarded next to the Going Merry, followed by his men.

As soon as enough men had moved away from him Zoro ran for his swords, but when he finally picked it up and was back at the spot where Buggy had set off, Buggy had already taken off only leaning the key to Luffy's cage behind. All Zoro could do was stare to the ship that moved away with the greatest treasure in the world.

Slowly he picked up the key and unlocked to cage. He refrained from looking to the boy. 'I'm sorry Luffy. I couldn't save…'

'It is fine.' Luffy said as he stood up and stretched. He laughed

Confused Zoro looked to the boy. What the hell was so funny? His treasure had just been stolen from him. The greatest treasure had been taken away from him and there wasn't a way to get it back.

'What do you mean it is fine?' He grunted, his brows knitting together in a frown.

Luffy was now laughing so hard that he was rolling over the ground. 'That thing that Buggy took was just the cap of a bottle of ale that was painted gold. Nothing more. Silly Zoro, didn't you see that?'

He ran over to the tangerines on the ship and started to dig in the ground. A moment later a golden piece was visible and Luffy pulled it out. 'This is the real One Piece. Buggy took the wrong one.' He laughed again.

Suddenly Zoro remembered that his father had made two treasures, just in case he should lose one.

'See?' Luffy said suddenly quite serious. 'There are pirates on the sea. Remember that!'

* * *

'Oi marimo!'

Sanji came up the stairs to the attic and looked around. There hadn't come a sound from the upper floor for a while now and he assumed that the moss head had fallen asleep again. If that was the case it was no foot for him until he was done.

Scanning around, he spotted the man in a corner of the attic looking down on something. It was a ship, a marvelous ship.

* * *

**The End!**

I was thinking about writing another end, but just couldn't get it right. The original story ends here too so I'll just leave it here for now. Maybe I write another end later. This time I'm not going to say anthing like I'm going to do that story for it wouldn't help anyway. I will just do another one and get you all disappointed.

Please R&R

EDIT: I just found out that this story was never translated to English so he, it should be quite new to you all exept for those who aren't English. :P


	3. A Riddling Tale

**A/N: **I am working on the Nutcracker, but it just doesn't want to work out so I decided to go for another tale first. This one comes from the Brothers Grim. I hope you all enjoy it.

* * *

******Titel: **A Riddling Tale******  
********Universe: **One Piece Universe  
******Pairing: **No pairing, Zoro/Chopper nakamaship  
******Word Count: **2,442******  
****Warning: **No warning unless you are afraid of witches******  
****Disclaimer: **I still don't own One Piece since it is Oda's nor do I own the story A Riddling Tale for it is written down by the Grim Brothers. If you want to read it look for story 160 or just search it on Google.

* * *

"What should I do? What should I do? What should I do!" Chopper ran around in little circles. His hoofs wrapped around his head. His eyes tearing up.

"Zoro!" He shouted. "Where are you?"

If we want to know what it was that got this little reindeer so frightened we need to go back a few hours. Back to the moment when Luffy –

"IISSLAANDD!"

"Really?" The little reindeer ran out of the kitchen of the Going Merry where he had been reading in one of the books he had picked up recently and jumped towards the railing. He perked his head over the wood and watched with big eyes to the island in the distance.

Nami exited the navigator room and watched smiling as the island crept closer. "Yosh, we will dock there in an hour. Everybody come here please."

"Hai Nami-schwan!" Sanji appeared before the navigator. "How about a refreshing drink?"

"Maybe later Sanji-kun." Nami waved the man off. "Zoro, get your lazy but down here!" She called up to the crow's nest. There came a grumble and a minute later the green haired man was also present. He stifled a yawn and looked to the front of the ship, past Luffy who was still on the figure head, and glanced at the island. Looked like a pretty normal island to him. A few trees could be seen together with a large beach.

"We are in need of supplies so I'm going to split your guys up and we'll all look for something. I don't know in how far the island is inhabited, but I'm sure there must be a town of some sort." She looked to all the members who had gathered around her.

"Sanji and Usopp will get the food."

"Nami I want meat!"

Nami sighed. "The term food includes meat you know."

"Yahoo!" Luffy turned back to face the island.

"Robin and I will look around the island to see if there is anything interesting around. Chopper and Zoro will watch the ship." The navigator clapped in her hands. "Well that's it."

"What about captain-san?" Robin asked.

"Ugh I'm not even trying to give him a task. He will run off anyway." Nami rolled her eyes and Robin let out a small chuckle.

Within an hour the ship was docked and the crew members were ready to leave. Sanji had made for each member a fitting lunch and had even gone so far to prepare some food for the two who stayed behind.

"Well let's go." Nami said. "Chopper, make sure Zoro doesn't walk off and get lost. I want to leave as soon as we come back."

"Oi…" The swordsman complained, but stopped when he saw the threatening glace of the navigator.

Soon the two were alone and while Chopper returned to his medicine Zoro reclaimed his place in the crow's nest. Soon the normal snoring could be heard coming from above.

After an hour Chopped decided to go out and look if Zoro was still okay. Maybe today he wanted to play a game with him? He put his stuff away and stepped on the deck. Searching he looked around before casting a glance up to the crow's nest. His brows knitted together and he sharpened his ears to catch a sound from the swordsman, but there was no sound coming from above. No snore. No groans of training. It was silent. Maybe Zoro was meditating?

Quickly Chopped made his way up to the mast and started to climb. Still no sound. The little reindeer silently chuckled. He would give the swordsman a scare. Or would he? Maybe Zoro would get mad and throw him off the ship? Quiet now he climbed further.

"Zoro?" He perked his head over the edge.

It was empty.

"Zoro?" Chopped looked down and then scanned the deck again. He glided down and opened the door to the boy's dormitory. "Zoro?" He wasn't there either. Confused the reindeer walked to the kitchen. Maybe Zoro was drinking sake?

Silently he opened the door. "Zoro?"Again he found the room empty. It seemed that Zoro had just disappeared.

Panicked now Chopper began to run around the ship again calling out to the swordsman, but the man was nowhere to be found. He was completely alone.

Alone…

The thought suddenly hit Chopper. Nami would be so angry at him. She had told him to watch Zoro and now he had lost him. He could see her face before him, giving him a death glare and telling him he had disappointed her. Punishment would follow. Chopped smashed his hoofs in his face. Punishment from Nami would be the worst.

"What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?" The reindeer ran around in circles over the deck. "Zoro!"

His eyes fell on a note that was pinned down in the ship's mast. In his panic he had missed the note completely. With trembling hoofs he took it off and read it.

_If you want your friend back come to the meadow on top of the cliff. _

Shaking Chopper let go of the note. The worst had happened: Zoro had been kidnapped. Again the reindeer was running around the deck. What should he do?

He halted suddenly. What would Usopp do in these cases? He put up a serious face. "I remember once when a friend of mine got kidnapped. The guy who did it lived in this HUGE horror castle. With black curtains and spider webs everywhere. They even had ghosts floating around there. But I, the brave captain Usopp, wasn't afraid. I busted inside and faced the lord of the castle. That guy was as big as a house, but with my enormous strength I managed to fight him off. After that it was a piece of cake and soon we were sailing again over the vast ocean in search of a new adventure."

Even when he made it up himself it sounded so good. Usopp was so brave. Would Zoro have been capture by a lord as big as a house? If so, what was he going to do? He was not as brave as Usopp.

Suddenly his resolve was firm. He would save the man. Usopp would be proud of him when he did. Quickly before he could change his mind he hopped of the ship and set off. He casted one last glance back to the ship and could almost swear he could hear the ship tell him that it would look after itself. Strengthened by this idea he walked off.

After an hour he finally reached the top of the cliff. Panting he switched back from Walk Point to Brain Point and straightened up. The cliff had been higher that he had expected. Slowly he walked past a couple of flowers to the end of the cliff and looked over the edge.

"So high!" He muttered under his pants. In the distance lay the ship. For a moment Chopper thought about waving to it, maybe someone would see him, but then he realized that there was none aboard. Suddenly he also realized why he had come here. He had to save Zoro!

Quickly he turned back to the meadow and looked around. The field was empty. "Zoro!" He shouted hoping that the swordsman would just pop up out of the grass. Unfortunately he didn't and Chopper remained alone on the field with the flowers.

HE slumped down. The message had been a lie. "Zoro…" He whined, but there was no response other then the movement of the flowers due a sudden gust of wind.

"Your friend is right here you know."

The sudden sound of a voice made Chopped almost jump out of his skin. He turned around and faced a young girl probably around fourteen years old. Her brown hair was neatly combed and rested on her shoulders. Her hands were folded behind her back as she lingered near the line where the forest turned into a meadow. It was as if she was too shy to come closer. Her short white dress was decorated with various patterns.

"What do you mean?" The little reindeer looked around again. "There is no one here."

"Sure there are. You're standing right next to them." The girl suddenly stepped away from the trees and moved closer to the pirate and Chopper was able to spot several flowers decorating her body. They were strapped around her waist and woven in her hair.

Unintentionally the reindeer set a step back before he looked to the side again, but there still was no one. "W-Who are you?" He stuttered.

"You have to guess." The girl said. "If you can guess I'll let him go."

"W-W-What?"

"Your friend." The girl spoke as if it was common logic. "If you can guess who he is you can take him back." She smiled genuinely.

"You know where Zoro is?"

"I just said that silly." The girl chuckled. "He is right next to you."

Totally confused Chopper again looked down to the grass. "But there are only…"

"Flowers, exactly. I've turned your friend into a flower. If you want him back you have to guess who he is."

"Heaaa?" Shocked the little doctor looked to the flowers. The three of them were standing tall in the grass. One blue, one yellow and one red. He looked back to the girl. "T-That's not possible." He stuttered.

"Of course it is." The girl laughed again. "Pick one."

Choppers eyes shot from the flowers to the girl back to the flowers and back again to the girl. Zoro had been turned into a flower? He fidgeted with his hoofs. "What if I choose wrong?" He said scared.

"Then I will pluck him and wear him on my body for all eternity." The girl said happy.

Chopper started trembling and slowly bowed down to take a better look at the flowers. "Zoro?" He whispered to the blue one, hoping that the flower would give a sign of recognition. But nothing happened. The flowers stood leisurely in the wind. The eyes of the reindeer went from blue to yellow to red and back to blue, but he saw absolutely no difference other then the color. Tears appeared into his eyes. How could he ever know which one was Zoro?

He pulled his head over his eyes. The darkness relaxed him and he sniffed up the smells around him. There was sea and grass and flowers and human and steel and –

Abruptly Chopper opened his eyes and looked around. There was nothing close by that was made of steel. Wearily he looked back to the girl who was still standing with her arms on her back. Was she hiding any steel objects? He closed his eyes again and sniffed for a second time. Following his nose he bent over to the flowers. The smell seemed to come from one of them. He opened his eyes and noticed that he was hovering above the red plant. He put his nose almost in the flower and inhaled deeply.

The scent of steel filled his nostrils.

Quickly he bent over to the other flowers and did the same thing. These flowers however just smelled like flowers. The reindeer looked back to the red one and then to the girl.

"It is the red one." He said firm.

"You're sure?" The girl said and she cocked her head to the side. "That blue one looks lovely too."

"I'm sure." Chopper rose to his feet.

With a gracious movement the girl stepped towards the flowers and slowly bent over. With her index finger she gently touched the red flower. Chopped was biting on his hoofs. What if he had chosen wrong? Zoro would stay a flower forever!

"Seems like your right." The girl spoke smiling. With a swift movement she plucked the blue and yellow flower. "Not many get it right." She frowned for a second. "Well have a nice day." And with that she skipped away and disappeared into the forest, leaving Chopper behind with a dazed look on his face. Quickly he turned back to the flower however there was no flower anymore. In the grass lay the green haired swordsman. The man blinked with his eyes and sat up with a dazed look on his face.

"Zoro!" The little reindeer threw himself at him and began sobbing. Soon the tears were streaming over his face. "I-I-I-I was s-so sc-c-cared!"

The swordsman gently patted the distressed reindeer on his head. "Thanks Chopper." He said then his face got his deadly glare back. "I'm going to kill that witch!" He stood up and prepared to stamp off to the forest when he was stopped by Chopper.

"Zoro we need to go back to the ship. Nami won't be happy if we aren't there when she returns."

Zoro's face slightly paled by the thought of an angry Nami. Maybe pursuing that witch was not so important after all. No, they should just go back to the ship. "Nothing has happened." He muttered to himself as Chopper let him away back to the ship.

"Oi Chopper." He said as they boarded the Merry again. Luckily no one was back yet. "Just don't tell anybody about this, especially not that curly-eyebrow. He will never let me go if he knew I've been a flower." He groaned already by the thought.

The little doctor nodded.

"Say how exactly did you recognize me anyway?" Zoro suddenly wondered.

"You smelled like steel."

"Ah."

Not long after that the others came back. They found Zoro still up in the crow's nest and Chopper still working on his medicine.

"So how was the village?" Zoro asked as they set at dinner that evening.

"It was really strange." Nami responded. "All the people seemed to be scared out of their minds for some witch which was supposed to live in the forest. There was this legend going around about a little girl who had disappeared in the forest. Years later people still say that they saw her skipping around. If you didn't watch out she would turn you into a flower and stick you in her hair sucking out your life force adding it to her own."

Chopper stiffened.

"Anyway I don't believe in that kind of things." Nami continued. "I mean turning into flowers how ridiculous is that." She laughed. "So," she looked questioning to the two guards, "anything interesting happened here while we were away?"

Zoro glanced at Chopper for a split second and let out a yawn. "No, nothing." He said casually as he took another swig out of his bottle of sake.


End file.
